Woman rescued from rubble in Japan, five days after deadly earthquake

Police and other rescuers pulled a woman in her 90s from under a collapsed house in western Japan on Saturday, five days after a powerful earthquake struck the region, killing more than 126 people.

Few details were available, but video footage showed a fleet of rescuers surrounding the site in Suzu, one of the hardest-hit villages. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, quoted by Yomiuri newspaper, the woman appeared to be suffering from hypothermia but was responsive.

The woman, who was not identified, was trapped underground under the first floor of a two-story house. She was rescued and taken to hospital around 8:20 p.m., according to officials from the Ishikawa Prefecture Crisis Management Office, where Suzu is located.

According to Ishikawa officials, firefighters and an attending physician said the woman suffered injuries to her legs. NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, said she could speak on Sunday morning.

The window for finding earthquake survivors is typically three days, experts say, although it is possible to survive longer depending on factors such as temperature, access to water or food, and how the victim is trapped.

Since Monday’s earthquake, which measured 7.6 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, the death toll has risen steadily as more bodies have been discovered beneath collapsed or burned buildings. Rescuers are still scrambling to find the missing in rainy conditions, with forecasts of snow looming along the Noto Peninsula. At least 222 people are still missing.

On Tuesday, a Coast Guard plane en route to deliver supplies to the region collided with a Japan Airlines plane on a runway in Tokyo. Five of the six people aboard the Coast Guard vessel were killed in the crash, while all passengers and crew on the other aircraft escaped their burning aircraft without serious injury.